This year in math we used Connected Math 2 for our text books. This system is very different than other systems that Franklin Township School has used in the past. It is made up of eight different units. In the beginning of the year I had a very difficult time understanding what was going on but as the year progressed I engaged more during class, understood the homework, and got the privilege to help other students when they were confused.
Over the entire year my math class has worked hard to complete six out of the eight books in the series. The units we have gone over are Bits and Pieces 1, Bits and Pieces 2, Covering and Surrounding, Shapes and Designs, Prime Time and now we are working very hard to add How Likely is it? to our done list. Did you know that there are four to five different chapters in each book, and there are at least four different Investigations to each chapter? THAT’S A LOT OF WORK!! On top of all of that work there are also four or five different points in each investigation. When we are going over one of the many points everyday you have to listen and be on the top of your game so that you can participate and learn as much as you are capable of. As we take the long ride home we get homework called ACE which stands for Applications, (A) Connections (C), & Extensions (E). Here is a picture of an actual page from Covering and Surroundings ACE. We also have to complete a mathematical reflection for each of the investigations. Also in the back of each book there will be a glossary and an index. Once we have finished each book we must hand in our completed notebook check – list, vocabulary, class work, homework, and assessments to be graded on how much and how correctly we filled in our math binders. Organizing the problems will help us create a conclusion to understand why these formulas and algorithms work. HOMEWORK?????.............
One major thing at the beginning of each unit is the “Focus Questions”. These questions do many things for us during the course of this year. For example they would help us reflect the major mathematical goals(s) of the unit. This lets us know what type of problems we will face during this unit. The second thing they do is get us curious about the unit ahead. This makes us want to open the book and look and see what’s inside, and what problems we will have to figure out together as a class, with a partner or individually. They also provide example questions that we think about. Those questions will also come up during the unit in an Investigation, or as homework. Here are some of the many questions we have discussed………. What property of a hexagon makes it a good shape for the cells of a honeycomb?, Why is it convenient to measure time using 60 minutes in an hour ( not 59 or 61) and 24 hours in a day (not 23 or 25)? Another is insects called Cicadas spend most of their lives underground. Many came above ground only every 13 or 17 years. Why is it unlikely you will never see 13-year and 17-year old cicadas appear together? The front of my favorite book looks like this…….
Another major thing that is at the beginning of each chapter is Mathematical Highlights. This previews important ideas of the unit. They also help us to follow where we are in the unit and how much is left. Another thing they do is that they provide us with a base of what we will be learning about in the following unit. The Highlights is also a place where parents can refer to if they want to know what the unit is about, and find the main ideas of the unit.
Now let’s go through this entire unit as a whole. Did you know that our units provide a set of achievements, or math highlights that preview the important things in this book? We find the math highlights in the beginning of the books and these highlights help us with our unit projects. Woops!! I just let out the next thing that I was going to talk to you about!!! I guess I will start early than. Ok so our unit projects……….. they are one of the biggest projects that we have to do all year. They worry us once we have finished each one our books and are very hard to compose but the thing that makes it possible is our mathematical highlights!!! Our unit projects are a reflection on what we have learned throughout our time during that book. The investigations in the unit are the theme of the book. As a class we work through the investigations to learn the concepts, and reasoning. In each investigation you will complete at least one of the achievements on the mathematical highlight. Each unit has three to five investigations, which will have two to five problems. Each problem is started with the teacher reading you the questions; then we solve the problems with a partner, as a class, or individually. As we go through these problems, we create strategies and skills. At the end of the problems an investigation reflection is to be written by a student. The class will then discuss their different solutions, hand in answers to questions provided by the book and then get graded on how well we understood the concept of what we were working on.
Out of all of the 6 books that we have worked on my favorite unit was Shapes and Designs. I enjoyed this unit the best because we got to learn about many different polygons, how to measure the area, the radius, diameter, and the circumference of those polygons with different materials. Now we have learned a lot more than I am explaining here but these were the most interesting because they stuck inside of my head. Some of the polygons that we worked with were triangles, squares (which were the easiest), rectangles, parallelograms, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, nonagons, regular polygons, and irregular polygons (which were the hardest). You know when you learn something that you like there is not just one thing that you enjoyed there are many different options. So here is something else that I enjoyed……. we learned what shapes are found in the real world. One example of this fact is what shapes tessellate, or tile. Another reason I liked Shapes and Designs was because we got to have a lot of fun in class. We got to tile with actual tiles, joke around with each other, and encourage each other when we presented our unit projects. Another reason I liked this unit is because we got to learn about angles and how they relate to different shapes. We also learned how to use an angle ruler to measure well….. angles and a protractor to also measure angles. Can I tell you another thing that I learned? Well ok here is something else to rattle your brain. Did you know why and how triangles are the best shape to build with? Also the most angles that you would find a lot in your life is the 90˚ angles. You can find this angle on any rectangle or square, such as a door, table, computer, and book. These are just some of the reasons why my favorite unit was Shapes and Designs.
This year in math we used Connected Math 2 for our text books. This system is very different than other systems that Franklin Township School has used in the past. It is made up of eight different units. In the beginning of the year I had a very difficult time understanding what was going on but as the year progressed I engaged more during class, understood the homework, and got the privilege to help other students when they were confused.
Over the entire year my math class has worked hard to complete six out of the eight books in the series. The units we have gone over are Bits and Pieces 1, Bits and Pieces 2, Covering and Surrounding, Shapes and Designs, Prime Time and now we are working very hard to add How Likely is it? to our done list. Did you know that there are four to five different chapters in each book, and there are at least four different Investigations to each chapter? THAT’S A LOT OF WORK!! On top of all of that work there are also four or five different points in each investigation. When we are going over one of the many points everyday you have to listen and be on the top of your game so that you can participate and learn as much as you are capable of. As we take the long ride home we get homework called ACE which stands for Applications, (A) Connections (C), & Extensions (E). Here is a picture of an actual page from Covering and Surroundings ACE. We also have to complete a mathematical reflection for each of the investigations. Also in the back of each book there will be a glossary and an index. Once we have finished each book we must hand in our completed notebook check – list, vocabulary, class work, homework, and assessments to be graded on how much and how correctly we filled in our math binders. Organizing the problems will help us create a conclusion to understand why these formulas and algorithms work.
HOMEWORK?????.............
http://nurizzatiabdulaziz.blogspot.com/2011/02/math-study-skills.html
One major thing at the beginning of each unit is the “Focus Questions”. These questions do many things for us during the course of this year. For example they would help us reflect the major mathematical goals(s) of the unit. This lets us know what type of problems we will face during this unit. The second thing they do is get us curious about the unit ahead. This makes us want to open the book and look and see what’s inside, and what problems we will have to figure out together as a class, with a partner or individually. They also provide example questions that we think about. Those questions will also come up during the unit in an Investigation, or as homework. Here are some of the many questions we have discussed………. What property of a hexagon makes it a good shape for the cells of a honeycomb?, Why is it convenient to measure time using 60 minutes in an hour ( not 59 or 61) and 24 hours in a day (not 23 or 25)? Another is insects called Cicadas spend most of their lives underground. Many came above ground only every 13 or 17 years. Why is it unlikely you will never see 13-year and 17-year old cicadas appear together? The front of my favorite book looks like this…….
[[http://www.album-cover art.org/0131656325Connected_Mathematics_2_Bits_and_Pieces_II_Using_Fraction_Operations|http://www.album-cover art.org/0131656325Connected_Mathematics_2_Bits_and_Pieces_II_Using_Fraction_Operations]]
Another major thing that is at the beginning of each chapter is Mathematical Highlights. This previews important ideas of the unit. They also help us to follow where we are in the unit and how much is left. Another thing they do is that they provide us with a base of what we will be learning about in the following unit. The Highlights is also a place where parents can refer to if they want to know what the unit is about, and find the main ideas of the unit.
Now let’s go through this entire unit as a whole. Did you know that our units provide a set of achievements, or math highlights that preview the important things in this book? We find the math highlights in the beginning of the books and these highlights help us with our unit projects. Woops!! I just let out the next thing that I was going to talk to you about!!! I guess I will start early than. Ok so our unit projects……….. they are one of the biggest projects that we have to do all year. They worry us once we have finished each one our books and are very hard to compose but the thing that makes it possible is our mathematical highlights!!! Our unit projects are a reflection on what we have learned throughout our time during that book.
The investigations in the unit are the theme of the book. As a class we work through the investigations to learn the concepts, and reasoning. In each investigation you will complete at least one of the achievements on the mathematical highlight. Each unit has three to five investigations, which will have two to five problems. Each problem is started with the teacher reading you the questions; then we solve the problems with a partner, as a class, or individually. As we go through these problems, we create strategies and skills. At the end of the problems an investigation reflection is to be written by a student. The class will then discuss their different solutions, hand in answers to questions provided by the book and then get graded on how well we understood the concept of what we were working on.
Out of all of the 6 books that we have worked on my favorite unit was Shapes and Designs. I enjoyed this unit the best because we got to learn about many different polygons, how to measure the area, the radius, diameter, and the circumference of those polygons with different materials. Now we have learned a lot more than I am explaining here but these were the most interesting because they stuck inside of my head. Some of the polygons that we worked with were triangles, squares (which were the easiest), rectangles, parallelograms, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, nonagons, regular polygons, and irregular polygons (which were the hardest). You know when you learn something that you like there is not just one thing that you enjoyed there are many different options. So here is something else that I enjoyed……. we learned what shapes are found in the real world. One example of this fact is what shapes tessellate, or tile. Another reason I liked Shapes and Designs was because we got to have a lot of fun in class. We got to tile with actual tiles, joke around with each other, and encourage each other when we presented our unit projects. Another reason I liked this unit is because we got to learn about angles and how they relate to different shapes. We also learned how to use an angle ruler to measure well….. angles and a protractor to also measure angles. Can I tell you another thing that I learned? Well ok here is something else to rattle your brain. Did you know why and how triangles are the best shape to build with? Also the most angles that you would find a lot in your life is the 90˚ angles. You can find this angle on any rectangle or square, such as a door, table, computer, and book. These are just some of the reasons why my favorite unit was Shapes and Designs.